La Samaritaine

This major, ambitious renovation conceived by SANAA and SRA ARCHITECTES comprises new retail space arranged around a central walkway which runs through the site from Rue de Rivoli to Pont-Neuf. This route ensures continuity between the Rivoli and Seine buildings. The office space is in the superstructure above the retail space in in the Rivoli, Neuf and Jourdain blocks.

The curtain wall that runs along the Rivoli block embodies Samaritaine’s new identity. It reinterprets and completes the initial work of architects Frantz Jourdain and Henri Sauvage in a contemporary way by continuing avant-garde themes in glass and metal. A glass triple skin, chiseled into a gentle curve casts away the notion of a façade in favour of a membrane that creates a subtle interface between exterior and interior. This screen-printed glass curtain reflects the surrounding buildings in its folds, offering a glimpse of Samaritaine’s new endeavour. The shape of the glass curves reinterprets the vertical rhythm of the Hausmannian windows along Rue de Rivoli and positions the building as a continuation of this urban sequence.